What’s at stake on final night of prep football regular season

Some teams are trying to improve their playoff seeds, others are fighting for their lives to qualify and some are simply playing for pride as the regular season draws to a close Friday.

Here’s what the playoff picture looks like for each area team entering Friday’s games:

Big South 2A/3A Conference

South Point — The Red Raiders, who finished the regular season last week with an 11-0 record, will be among the teams in line for the top overall seed in their bracket (3A West).

Ashbrook — Win or lose against Hunter Huss, Ashbrook will be the No. 2 Class 3A seed out of Big South and will be in line for a possible first-round home game.

Hunter Huss — The Huskies have already clinched the Big South’s top 2A seed, which will lead to a first-round home game.

Forestview — The Jaguars can’t do anything at this point to be seeded higher than the at-large tier but a win against East Gaston could help their seed within that tier. Regardless, Forestview will travel in the first round.

East Gaston— Fifty-four teams in Class 3A have already won five games, leaving only 10 playoff spots for teams below five wins. Eleven others have reached exactly four wins and East Gaston will try to join that group with a win against Forestview. Keep in mind not all of those four-win teams will get in.

North Gaston — Assuming all of the teams with exactly four wins don’t pick up a fifth win Friday, North Gaston will get in the playoffs, but will be seeded in the at-large tier and will face a road trip. A win against Lake Norman Charter could improve the Wildcats' seeding within the at-large tier.

Southern Piedmont 1A Conference

Bessemer City— The Yellow Jackets can secure the SPC’s top bid with a win against Cherryville and could be as high as the No. 2 seed in its pod.

Cherryville — The Ironmen can also claim the SPC’s top bid if it beats Bessemer City. Friday’s outcome could make the difference between a home game and road game in the first round.

Highland Tech — Despite winning only one game, the Rams would be in the 1A playoffs if they started today and there’s a good chance they will hold on to that spot through Friday.

Southern District 7 Athletic 2A Conference

East Lincoln — Although they’re going for the outright conference title Friday at West Lincoln, the Mustangs have already clinched the SD7’s top playoff bid. The three forfeit losses earlier in the season will hurt their seeding, but the Mustangs could be as high as a No. 3 seed in the 2AA West. The top four seeds are at home in the first and second round should they advance.

Page 2 of 2 - Lincolnton — If the Wolves can beat Maiden, they’ll earn the SD7’s No. 2 playoff bid, greatly increasing their home playoff chances. In the event of a loss, Lincolnton would probably open the playoffs on the road.

West Lincoln— The Rebels will be seeded in the at-large tier no matter what happens Friday, which means they’ll open the playoffs on the road.

Others

Kings Mountain — With only two wins, Kings Mountain has been eliminated from playoff contention. Sixty-four teams from each classify qualify but 65 Class 3A teams have already reached four wins, meaning no three-win team will qualify.

North Lincoln — The cutoff for 3A playoff qualification entering Friday is four wins (see Kings Mountain explanation above). Not all of the four-win teams will get in, but North Lincoln (3-7) will at least try to join that group and have a chance as it faces winless West Iredell.